Courtroom Personnel
This person is the boss of the courtroom. They are neutral and make sure all sides are following the law. They can also sentence you.
Who is the judge?
A deal given to the defendant for a lesser sentence in exchange for pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
What is a plea bargain?
This is an answer to your charges.
What is a plea?
This is the person who sent you here.
Who is the Judge?
This person's job is to prove to the judge or to the jury that you are guilty. This person is against you and is not on your side.
Who is the District Attorney or Prosecuting Attorney?
This is the person who offers the defendant a plea bargain.
Who is the D.A./Prosecutor?
A plea option that means you did do the crime.
What is Guilty?
What is an Oath?
This is anything that can be used in court to prove that a person is guilty or innocent, such as DNA, witness statements, or video footage.
What is evidence?
This is the person who is on your side. This person is trying to protect you and their goal is to get you free, or if you are found guilty, to get a reduced sentence for you.
Who is the Defense Attorney or Public Defender?
These 4 people must all agree to the plea bargain in order for it to go through.
Who are the D.A./Prosecutor, the Judge, Public defender/Defense Attorney and the defendant?
A plea option that means you did not do the crime.
What is Not Guilty?
This is the punishment for either pleading guilty or being found guilty. The judge decides if yours could be prison, jail, or probation.
What is a Sentence?
This is a less serious charge that can get you a sentence of 1 year or less, served in the county jail.
What is a misdemeanor?
This is made up of 6 to 12 citizens that are selected from the local community. They decide the verdict after listening to all of the evidence presented by the district attorney and the public defender.
Who is the jury?
You give up these rights when taking a plea bargain because you have to plead guilty.
Rights to a trial and appeal.
A plea option that means you will not say if you did it or not, and that you are not going to fight the charges. You are leaving it for the court to decide.
What is No Contest?
Telling a lie after swearing an Oath to tell the truth. This can get you a felony charge.
What is Perjury?
This is a more serious charge that can get you a sentence of 1 year to life, served in a prison.
What is a felony?
This person comes to court to tell what they know about the case or what they saw. They can help your case or hurt your case.
Who is a witness?
If you take a plea bargain you cannot ask the court for this option, which would allow you to possibly get a new trial later on.
What is an Appeal?
A plea option that means you did do the crime, but you were not in your right mind at the time of the crime due to a mental illness.
What is Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity?
This is the final decision found by a jury or by a judge. This is the decision at the end of a trail which states whether they judge a person guilty, not guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity.
What is a Verdict?
The Judge sent you to this facility to complete this process, which shows that you understand the court process, the seriousness of your charges, and how to help your attorney.
What is a competency evaluation?